flavor equations

When I was researching recipes for dulce de leche, I came across this, "A banana dipped in dulce de leche is the taste of a Mexican childhood." That sounded good to me. I'd love to taste a Mexican childhood! (I think.) So with the leftover ddl from our mid-week meal (see last post), I warmed it up and poured it over a sliced banana, sprinkled with cinnamon, and I truly think it was one of the best things I've ever eaten.

Caramel and bananas is a fabulous flavor combination. One of the things I really started learning about last year was combining flavors. They're like little math equations. Some work, some don't. The sous chef I worked for had spent two years at the French Laundry (read - working for God)and really impressed on me the importance of learning which flavors work together. Some of my favorites:
pear + shitake + truffle + celery
banana + caramel + rum
orange + chocolate + black tea (or, more simply, chocolate + Earl Grey)
green tea + duck + leek + plum (or other fruit - cherry is great)
red wine + beef + bacon
lavender + vanilla + cream
bacon + everything

There are many others, of course, but if you know me and eat food that I make very often you'll start to notice that these flavors in these combinations tend to repeat themselves a lot. The cool thing about this is that you can combine these flavors in endless ways.

The handbook for doing this is of course a book called Culinary Artistry, which actually has lists of ingredients, and flavors that pair well with them. It's indispensible.

I've always hated math, but this is the kind I can really enjoy!